Monday, 26 December 2011

To those who read and were looking forward to the posts I mentioned for Twelfth Night, I humbly apologize. Time has gotten away with me and spending time with my family for the holidays. Not to mention, I'm working on learning Dreamweaver to redesign my website as well as working on finishing up my first full length novel, the first book of my Rift Hunter Chronicles, Untamed Hawaiian Heat so I can resubmit it. I hope to have the new website up in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, please enjoy the eye candy I've left you. :)

Monday, 19 December 2011

And so the Stuff Your Stocking Blog Hop has come to an end. You know what that means?

Yep. I had to choose a winner.

Congratulations, siobhankinkade! You've won a copy of Branded Hearts.

Thank you to all that commented on my short story, The Legend of the Mistletoe. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. There's still a chance to win a copy of Branded Hearts. All you have to do is go check out the free read written by members of the Passionate Ink Chapter of RWA and comment for a chance to win.

Not only is a copy of Branded Hearts up for grabs, but also a copy of my very first book, Shooting Stars. (Which is the prequel to the first book in my Wish Upon a Star Series, Falling Star. I'll share the information about its release date as soon as I have it.)

You'll also have a chance to win many other fabulous prizes from seven other wonderful authors who participated in the round robin story. I promise you won't be disappointed. Go check it out today. The first installment is already posted. Click on the link below the cover for our story, Naughty Night Before Christmas to read it.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (And Happy Holidays to those who don't celebrate Christmas.)

Paige had balled her fists against the warmth of his chest with the intent to pummel it until he released her. That was until his mouth descended on hers. His lips merely brushed across hers causing her heart to pound until she feared it would burst from her chest. She gasped when he nipped her lower lip with his teeth.

Lachlan took advantage of her surprise and thrust his tongue between her lips.

She tried to break the kiss shocked at the intimacy beginning to envelope them. That thought fled her mind when he swirled his tongue around hers. She moaned into his mouth and curled her hands around his neck angling her head so he would have better access.

He pulled her flush against his length. A groan escaping him when she plunged her fingers in his hair. He surrendered his claim on her lips trailing his kisses across her cheek to her ear. He nipped her earlobe then whispered huskily, “Do ye ha any idea how long I’ve wanted ta kiss ye, lass?”

Paige heard him say something, but she couldn’t seem to process it through the sensual fog he’d created inside her. A fog that continued to grow with each brush of his hands and lips. She could barely breathe. “Lachlan…” His name escaped her. As a plea for what she wasn’t sure. All she knew was she didn’t want to lose the new sensations she was experiencing. She’d been kissed before, but never like this.

Never had she felt such intensity…such passion…such longing to know more.

Lachlan cupped her breast kneading it until her nipple was stiff against his palm.

A jolt of astonishment crashed through her when she felt the warmth of his hand slipping into her bodice. You shouldn’t be allowing this to happen. The little voice in the back of her mind whispered.

He pinched the tight bud causing her to issue a squeak of surprise as pleasure shot through her.

She hugged him closer wanting to feel more. No needing to feel more…of him. The image of him swimming with her brother at the loch flashed in her mind. Would he look the same naked as he had then? That had been the first time she’d seen a naked male body. It was also the day she’d fallen in love with him.

He chuckled against the curve of her neck. “Always were impatient, weren’t you, Sprite?” He bit into the tender skin.

She gasped. “Please, Lachlan…I need…” What? She knew where this would lead if she wasn’t careful. Another image surged to the surface of her mind. This one of him tuppin’ her as he had that village lass all those years ago. Right on its heels was the memory of how she’d found the girl crying a few days later. She’d coaxed Janet, she thought her name had been, into telling her what was wrong. Janet had been upset because she’d caught him tuppin’ someone else. No. Her heart cried. I will not be another lass he adds to his collection.

Steeling her resolve she pushed all the feelings he’d aroused in her away and stiffened in his arms. “No.” She pushed against him. “I need to go.”

Lachlan went completely still then removed his hand from her bodice. He rose and met her gaze a question burning in their green depths.

“Ye’ve had yer kiss. Now let me go.” She finally managed to say, though she thought she heard a tremor in her voice. She prayed he didn’t.

He studied her for a long moment. “So ye think ye can deny what’s been buildin’ atween us since that summer ye couldn’t stop followin’ me and Chase around?”

Paige barely managed to hide her surprise at his question. She cleared her throat acutely aware that he still had his arms around her waist. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. There has never been nor will there ever be anything building between us,” she said, though she had to concentrate not to allow her brogue to come out. Doing so would alert him to how much he affected her.

Lachlan leaned in and nipped her lower lip again.

She pulled back so sharply he didn’t have time to let go. She refused to soothe the spot with her finger or her tongue. That would only draw his attention to them all the more. “Let go. Or I’ll…”

“Ye’ll what? Scream? Ye won’t do that if ye don’t want to face the consequences if ye do.” He paused for a moment. “And ye know weel enough what I’m talkin’ aboot. Ye wanted me then and ye want me now. The only thing ye donna know is that I’ve felt the same. Ye just were no’ old enough back then.”

Paige stared at him astonishment at his statement causing her to allow her mouth to gap open like a half-wit. When he pressed his lips to hers once more she almost melted into his embrace again. It was only by sheer force of will that she found the strength to push him back and break his hold on her waist at the same time. She met his eyes which still sparked with a hunger for things she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to indulge in. With him.

Forcing the desire to taste them away she spun on her heel and fled back to the safety of the house. She didn’t stop until she reached her room. Though once there she couldn’t resist the draw of the window overlooking the back garden. She approached it and looked in the direction she’d left him.

He was walking toward the entrance of the house then stopped and glanced up.

Their gazes collided. Had he felt her watching him? She wondered. No. He couldn’t have. And though her heart wanted to believe what he’d said about wanting her. She wasn’t a fool. He would never give up his dissolute ways to please a woman.

Determined to avoid him for the rest of his stay with them she turned away from the window and began working on a plan. Absently she traced a finger over her lips which still tingled from his kisses. When she realized what she was doing she dropped her hands to her side. She definitely couldn’t allow him to kiss her again.

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I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of my romantic bondage tale, Branded Hearts.

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Welcome back for day two of the Stuff Your Stocking Blog Hop. I hope you enjoyed the first installment of my story. Here's the second one.

The Legend of the Mistletoe Part II

Paige stared at him stunned by his audacity. Did he really think she would permit him to claim a kiss? When she finally recovered from the shock of his bold assumption she realized he’d used her momentary bewilderment to close the distance between them. Though he refrained from actually touching her. “You don’t think I’d actually allow you to kiss me, do you?” she asked trying to ignore the way her heart had sped up with his proximity.

Lachlan laughed. “Tis my right, lass, to claim such a boon.”

“You’re obviously daft if you believe that.” She started to turn and begin walking back to the house. It was of a certainty now that she’d find no peace in her normal refuge. Not with him invading it. She was pulled up short by a hand on her elbow. “I’ll thank ya kindly to release yer hold on my person, sir!” She almost groaned aloud when she heard the gently brogue entering her voice. It had taken her a long time to learn not to let it show.

He pulled her back so her back was almost flush against his chest. “Mmm…I was wonderin’ where that lovely lilt had gone to. Glad to see these English couldn’t strip it out of you completely.”

She shivered when he leaned in and nuzzled her cheek with his hair roughened jaw. She needed to get away from him. His hold on her senses since he’d walked into the drawing room the night before smelling of wind, rain and Scottish heather threatened to overwhelm her. “Let go of me. I need to return to the house. Jadyn, Tory and Elaina will be looking for me to join in the game of charades they had planned for this evening.” She hadn’t really agreed to play the game, but she’d use any excuse she could to get away from the turbulent emotions he sparked within her.

He ignored her request and curled his free hand against her hip while sliding the one holding her arm up to push the deep collar of her cloak out of the way, exposing her neck. “Do ye know the legend of the mistletoe, Sprite?” He stroked a fingertip over the sensitive skin he’d uncovered sending a wave of heat racing through her.

Paige tried to calm her frazzled nerves at the light touch of his finger. She swallowed hard and said, “No.” Her eyes closed tight when the word came out more breathlessly than she’d intended.

Lachlan trailed his fingers along the edge of her jaw teasing her with the gentle caress. “Tis said that twas the love the Goddess Frigga held for her son, Balder that gave the wee plant its distinctive white berries and her blessing that anyone who stands beneath it would never be harmed…” He pulled the fabric of her cloak down. “…and would be entitled to a kiss.” He pressed his warm lips to her shoulder.

Paige wished she’d decided to don a different gown this morning. The one she wore had a deep neckline that barely draped her shoulders. One of which was now being nipped and tasted by the one man who held the power to hurt her fragile heart if she weren’t careful. The only problem was even as her head cried for her to run as fast and as far away as she could her heart cried out just as loud for her to revel in the sensations he was creating inside her. She struggled to find her voice through the fog of desire being spun around her and failed. All she could utter was a tiny moan as he trailed his lips toward the curve where her neck and shoulder met.

“The legend says that Balder dreamt of his death. It weighed on his mind enough that he told his mother of the dream.” He scattered tiny kisses up the column of her neck.

Paige jumped when she felt his tongue trace the shell of her ear. She tried to pull away, but he slipped his other arm around her waist.

He nuzzled her neck scrapping her delicate skin with the dusting of whiskers on his jaw. “Fearing not only for the life of her son but for all life on Earth because he was the God of the Summer Sun, Frigga appealed to every creature in the air, water, fire and earth to promise they would never harm her son. She was promised his safety be every animal and plant under and above the Earth.” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth swirling his tongue around it then bit gently before releasing it.

Paige moaned her breath coming in tiny gasps she couldn’t help but emit. The hand he rested on her stomach rubbed circles over it. The heat of his touch was all around her scorching her skin through multiple layers of fabric they might not have existed. “Please…” She whispered. Though what exactly she was asking for she couldn’t have said she was so caught up in the sensual web of desire he was weaving around them within the shelter of the oak trees they stood beneath.

Lachlan turned her in his arms and took her face in his hands. “Only Loki, who was an enemy of Balder, was aware of one plant that Frigga overlooked. It grew on apple and oak trees and was known as Mistletoe. He took a sprig of this plant and placed it at the tip of an arrow then beguiled Hoder, Balder’s blind brother the God of Winter, and made him shoot the arrow at Balder. Balder died immediately. For three days every creature tried to bring him back to life, but he was only revived by Frigga with the help of the mistletoe.”

Paige watched as his eyes followed the path of his finger as he traced her lips.

“Frigga’s tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed it such that anyone who stands under it would never be harmed,” he finally glanced up and met her gaze, “and would be entitled to a kiss as a token of love.”

Before she could utter a protest he claimed her lips.

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I'll post the end of the story tomorrow so be sure to check back again. And don't forget to comment for your chance to win my romantic bondage tale, Branded Hearts.

Friday, 16 December 2011

Welcome and Merry Christmas, dear readers! I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season. For the Stuff Your Stocking Blog Hop, I'll be posting a short story featuring characters from a historical romance I'll be working on next year. It will be in three parts so be sure to check back each day to read the next installment. :)

The Legend of the Mistletoe

Paige glanced around the room to make sure no one saw her escape. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to join in the Christmas festivities with her family. She just needed a moment to reflect on what had transpired over the last few days and she knew that wasn’t going to happen with her siblings and cousins vying for her attention to play a game of whist or charades.

Most of all she wanted to avoid him.

Lachlan Craig.

Noting that everyone was occupied with the entertainments they’d chosen for the afternoon, Paige quickly slipped out the door and sent the first maid she found to fetch her cloak. It looked like they were due for another bout of snow soon. She also acknowledged that she would be taking as long as she could before rejoining the others. She much preferred the warmer months as she didn’t have to be cooped up with everyone for days on end.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw Mary approaching with her cloak. “Thank you, Mary. Please don’t mention where I’ve gone. At least not for half an hour,” she said to the maid as she took the coat from her and slipped it around her shoulders. She didn’t wait for a reply before she turned and escaped the house through a door in the drawing room. Silently she thanked her lucky stars that no one was passing the afternoon in the room.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn’t notice the tall broad shouldered frame following closely behind her.

#

Paige took a deep breath of the cold fresh air then exhaled watching the cloud of steam that puffed out in its wake. Why had Da invited Lachlan to stay? She understood he had a responsibility to his welfare since he’d been sent to bring a message all the way from Blackwell Castle in Scotland, but that didn’t mean he had to extend the invitation to stay until Twelfth Night. She didn’t know if she could stand having to see the man at every meal for the next two weeks.

Worse she was going to have to join in some of the entertainments as well. The memory of the last time she’d played with him along with her brother and sisters rose to her mind.

They’d all been playing hide and seek and he’d convinced all the others that she’d gone back inside after glimpsing her hiding in the bushes near the pond. She’d waited until it was almost full dark before she’d finally realized what had happened. She wasn’t surprised that he’d done the same to her sisters as well. They’d been hiding together though since Tory had been too afraid to be alone that summer.

“You shouldn’t be out here in the cold, Sprite.”

Paige stopped abruptly at the sound of the deep voice with its unmistakable brogue. It spoke of someone who hadn’t left the country he’d been born in and thus hadn’t adopted the more cultured tones of the gentry the way her Da and brother, Chase had. There was only one person present at Blackwell Manor who had that voice. Lachlan. She spun on her heel to face him irritation that she couldn’t even spend a few minutes without him protruding on her solitude.

Ah, but he was already intruding wasn’t he? A tiny voice whispered in her mind. She ignored it and the fact that she had indeed been thinking about him. She swallowed hard at the sight that greeted her. He looked far too devastatingly handsome in the suit he’d borrowed from Chase. “Don’t you have something better to do than plague me, Mr. Craig?” The question came out more forcefully than she’d intended dripping with her obvious irritation.

The corners of his lips tipped up. “I dinna figure ya should be coming out here alone, Sprite. What with the coming storm and all.” He took several steps shortening the distance between them. “I’m quite certain yer Mam and Da would never forgive me should something befall ya if they found out I knew you’d come out and not done anything to bring ya back into the warmth of the house.”

Paige couldn’t believe her ears. He really thought to make her come back inside. At one time in her life she would have followed him anywhere. The love she’d thought she had for him all those years ago had been a silly girls dreams, a first love that hadn’t been reciprocated. She knew that for certain when she’d found him tuppin’ one of the village lass’s after she’d finally realized the others had forgotten about her during that fateful hide and seek game seven years ago. Heat suffused her at the thought of that memory. He hadn’t seen her of course, but she’d never been able to forget it.

When he’d shown up yesterday not only had the memory come back full force she’d found her yearning to know what it felt like to be held and touched the way he had the girl in her memory. She shook her head and walked away from him deeper into the trees that lined the side of the garden. “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Mr. Craig. I’ll only be out here a short while. I just needed a breath of fresh air is all.”

Paige gasped in surprise when she felt his strong arm encircle her waist.

He leaned closer until his breath feathered over her ear. “Are ya sure ya weren’t trying to avoid me?”

She shivered and pushed back hard breaking his hold causing him to knock against the trunk of the tree making large clumps of snow to cascade down on him.

He looked up in surprise as though he’d just realized they were under a tree. When he returned his gaze to hers his eyes burned with determination and a mischief that she was sure didn’t bode well for her.

“What? You had that coming you big oaf. I didn’t give you leave to touch me,” she huffed.

“Do you know what yer standing under, Sprite?”

Paige glanced up. “A tree,” she said not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. What kind of lack wit did he take her for?

“That’d be mistletoe yer standing beneath.” When she didn’t respond he continued, “I’ll be claiming my kiss before I take ye back inside where it’s warm.”

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Be sure to stop by tomorrow to read the next installment of the story.

Now for the goodies. I'll be giving away a copy of Branded Hearts to one lucky person. All you have to do is leave a comment on any of the three days and you'll be entered to win.

Be sure to check out the rest of the awesome authors who are participating in the Stuff Your Stocking Blog Hop. There are tons of prized to be won. Good luck to you all.

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Wow! I can’t believe it’s already December and Christmas is only eleven days away! This year has been a roller coaster ride for me both personally and professionally (or rather like trying to overcome a fear of rock climbing). J (Sorry, Louisa Bacio, I couldn’t resist putting the roller coaster cliché in there.) More on how my year went in a couple of weeks.

I hate to say that I’ve been totally lacking in motivation to get anything done the last couple of days. So much has been going on the last few weeks with preparations for Christmas and all the cookies that I have to bake over the next week (all from scratch, btw.). That’s not even adding in all the things that have been happening with my kids. So I’ve sat at my computer drawing a complete blank about what topic to write about for a few days now. I’ve finally gotten the blog updated with new graphics. (Yay! That’s one thing I’ve been able to mark off my looooong to do list. The website is the next thing to tackle on that front.) I finally decided I’d just give you all an update on what I’ll be doing over the next couple of weeks.

First, I’m putting together a Christmas Round Robin for the Passionate Ink Chapter of RWA. As soon as it’s ready I’ll be posting it on the Passionate Ink’s blog. (Oh, I forgot to mention, I was elected Workshop Coordinator for Passionate Ink! ;) Yay!) Check out the awesome cover that I made for it. Before I forget, be sure to stop by when I post the link, because every person that added to the story will be giving something away. All you have to do is comment to be entered to win. J

During the weekend of December 16-18, 2011, I’ll be participating in the Stuff Your Stocking Blog Hop along with 195 other authors! Each blog participating in the hop will have their own contest. So lots of opportunities to win!

And finally, on December 26, I will post the first post of my Twelfth Night posts ending on the day of Epiphany January 6, 2012. For those who don't know what Twelfth Night is, here's what Wikipedia says about it. Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas. And in medieval andTudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve-- now more commonly known as Halloween. On January 6, I will do a drawing for something very special to mark the one year anniversary (okay it's a little early, but not by much!) of my becoming a published author. More details on that as it gets closer to time.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the awesome Christmas give aways that will be held during the events I mentioned. Until this weekend, my friends. I hope you'll join me here on Scorched Sheets where passion breathes...again soon.